fertilize
Americanverb (used with object)
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Biology.
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to render (the female gamete) capable of development by uniting it with the male gamete.
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to fecundate or impregnate (an animal or plant).
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to make fertile; enrich.
to fertilize farmland.
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to make productive.
verb
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to provide (an animal, plant, or egg cell) with sperm or pollen to bring about fertilization
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to supply (soil or water) with mineral and organic nutrients to aid the growth of plants
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to make fertile or productive
Other Word Forms
- fertilizability noun
- fertilizable adjective
- overfertilize verb (used with object)
- prefertilize verb (used with object)
- refertilizable adjective
- refertilize verb (used with object)
- unfertilizable adjective
- unfertilized adjective
- unfertilizing adjective
Etymology
Origin of fertilize
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
The flies develop quickly in flowing waters, where females will lay 200 to 500 fertilized eggs at a time.
From Los Angeles Times
The results strongly suggest the crops were fertilized with seabird guano, which is rich in nitrogen because seabirds feed on marine life.
From Science Daily
He will spread more of what my dad used to fertilize his roses.
From Salon
Researchers at Michigan State University have identified a molecular "switch" that boosts sperm energy just before they attempt to fertilize an egg.
From Science Daily
In regions north of the Antarctic Polar Front -- a boundary where cold Antarctic waters meet warmer waters to the north -- that dust helped fertilize algae.
From Science Daily
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
